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Skipjack tuna has traded for over $2,100 for a metric ton on the Bangkok auction on Monday, a source from a UK buyer told Undercurrent News.

The same buyer cited prices as low as $1,860 in December, lower than prices quoted to Undercurrent by large tuna traders and buyers and used on our prices graph.

The prices in Bangkok, considered the industry benchmark, had been falling from highs of around $2,300 last year.

“I wouldn't call it a surge -- just a steady rise,” said an Asia-based tuna source, playing down the talk of a dramatic increase.

This source also played down prices as low as $1,860 in December. “There may have been some trades at this level, but there were not many.”

The source, however, quoted prices as high as $2,150, for large fish.

For UK buyers, this is tough. “With the rather weak pound sterling versus the dollar and euro, UK buyers are now faced with a major increase.”

A US-based tuna trader said large volume deals by the big players are still at a lower price.

“The last sales were at both $2,050 and one at the end of the week at $2,070 by the big boys, to the big boys,” the tuna trader told Undercurrent, referring to large tuna traders and the canneries such as Thai Union and Sea Value.

“It might well be that a smaller guy has paid $2,100, and the market is certainly moving north, so we can expect $2,100 I think for big sales in the coming week or so,” he told Undercurrent.

“Isn't it funny that people grab the extreme in highs and lows on prices, whereas the bulk of sales are never done as high, or as low,” the US-based trader said.